Review: Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

The novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell sweeps you into the world of Oceania, Airstrip One.

In Air Strip One, there are two parties: the Inner Party (the ruling party) and the Outer Party (the working party.) People in both Parties work in one of the four ministries: the Ministry of Love, the Ministry of Truth, the Ministry of Plenty, and the Ministry of Peace. Ironically each ministry concerns itself with affairs opposing their name. For instance, the Ministry of Love deals in killing and torture.

Within the Inner Party is Air Strip One’s leader who is called “Big Brother.” Big Brother, who the Air Strip One citizens treat like a god, controls and watches everything. Through the Thought Police, Big Brother knows of every rebellious scheme against the country. Alone time is discouraged and a country belief is that “everyone belongs to everyone.”

In the Ministry of Truth, works a young man called Winston Smith. Although Winston feels like he does’t fit into the Party community, he never crosses a line. That is until he meets a woman called Julia. Julia is a woman who convincingly plays the role of a devoted Party member, but who actually despises the Party. As Winston and Julia bond and sneak away for longer periods of times, both unwittingly forget the forbidden nature of what they’re doing. And at the end of the book, the reader will discover just how far Air Strip One will go to break an individual’s will.

I enjoyed this book because of George Orwell’s vivid description of his prediction of life in 1984. The characters were also very compelling, along with the suspenseful action and disturbing thought of what a world would look like with no privacy, individualization, and free thought.

However, I thought the pace of the book took awhile to pick up. I would recommend Nineteen Eighty-Four to anyone who enjoys reading about haunting, dystopian worlds with disturbing thoughts about the future or enjoyed reading Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. I would not recommend this book to someone who dislikes dystopian books, sad endings, and complicated worlds.

Rating: Read It! Choose It!

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